The Discourse about the Great Emancipation

The Discourse about the Great Emancipation
[The First Chapter for Recitation]
[1: King Ajātasattu]
Thus I heard:
At one time the Gracious One was living near Rājagaha on the
Vultures' Peak Mountain. 1
Now at that time the Magadhan King Ajātasattu, 2 the son of Lady
Wisdom, had a desire to attack the Vajjians. 3 He said this: “I will
annihilate these Vajjians, who are so successful, so powerful, I will
1 The discourse opens about one year before the Parinibbāna. Rājagaha was
the capital of the Magadhan State, and Vulture's Peak was one of the 7
mountains surrounding the city.
2 Ajātasattu came to power in Magadha about 7 years before the Parinibbāna.
His name is an epithet meaning one with no born enemy; but after he had
starved his Father to death, the good King Bimbisāra, the name was reinterpreted
to mean one who was an enemy (to his Father even) before
being born.
3 The Kingdom of Magadha and the Vajjian Republic were neighbouring
countries. According to the Commentary they seem to have been in dispute
about control of the trade along the Ganges river. The period the Buddha
was living in saw the gradual rise of the Monarchies to power, displacing
the Republics until a couple of centuries later the whole of India was
eventually united under King Asoka.
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